Five rebels, five civilians killed by Indian security forces

By

Daniel Uria

Five rebels, including a commander and a university professor, and five civilians were killed in a clash with Indian security forces in at a home in the state of Jammu and Kashmir Sunday. Photo by Farooq Khan/EPA

May 6 (UPI) -- Ten people were killed during a clash in a northern India state in the Himalayan mountains Sunday.

Indian security forces confronted rebels at a home in Zanipora Badigam village in Shopian district in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, killing five rebels including a commander and a university professor, state police chief Shesh Paul Vaid told Al Jazeera.

"The gunfight is over and all the five terrorists have been killed. We made repeated appeals to them to surrender, but they did not," Vaid said.

Hundreds of civilians rushed to the scene of the shooting and five were killed when security forces fired tear gas and bullets to control the crowd, some of whom Vaid said threw stones at security officers.

The university professor was identified as Mohammad Rafi Bhat, who police said had joined the militant group two days earlier.

Kashmir University, where Bhat worked, suspended classes and and instituted a curfew for two days beginning Monday to prevent protests after he left to join the militant group.

Indian officials also said rebel leader Saddam Padder of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen was among those killed.

The killings on Sunday came after three rebels and four civilians were killed during a six-hour confrontation with security forces in Srinagar on Saturday.